Lucy's Return
by WitchGirl
Summary: Of course, another Carby! Lucy pays Carter another visit. She succeeded in taking over before, will she succeed again? Permanently? Or will Abby stop her before she goes too far? Sequel to Dr. Carter and Miss Hyde. (If you haven't read that, I sugge
1. She's Everywhere

Lucy's Return  
  
Summary: Lucy pays Carter another visit. She succeeded in taking over before, will she succeed again? Permanently? Or will Abby stop her before she goes too far? Sequel to Dr. Carter and Miss Hyde. (If you haven't read that, I suggest you do to understand this fic).  
  
Briefing of what happened in between fics: Abby broke up with Luka. She couldn't bear hurting him more by cheating on him. Luka understood. Carter and Abby are currently dating and it had been three months since Carter's last encounter with his Lucy. Carter is beginning to think that his Lucy will never return, despite her last words to him: 'I'll be waiting', which Carter never really understood.  
  
The biting weather of February was upon the two lovers as they walked through the white snow. For the first time in a long time, Carter was truly happy. He had Abby. He no longer dreaded Valentine's Day as he used to. Though maybe he should have. Because maybe then, he would have been more careful.  
"So, are you on tonight?" Abby asked Carter, her hands deep in her coat pocket to warm them.  
"I'm off at six," Carter answered.  
"I'm off at five. You want to do something tonight?"  
"Sure, why not?" Carter smiled. Snowflakes fell gently to the ground like feathers. The two stepped into Doc Magoo's to find Mark Greene and Elizabeth Corday there already. Elizabeth smiled, weakly at them, Mark's arm was around her shoulders.  
"She got too attached to a patient," Mark explained. Carter nodded and he and Abby slid into the same booth.  
"It's all right, really," Elizabeth said, "I knew he was dying. I accept it."  
"Still hard, though, right?" Abby said.  
"So, what are you two up to?" Mark asked, changing the subject.  
"Awe, not much, really," Carter looked at Abby, "We're-" but he stopped. Because he heard something.  
**Valentine's Day is two days away...**  
"John, is something wrong?" Abby asked, concerned. Carter shook his head as if trying to clear it.  
"Everything's fine," he told her, believing the voice to be his imagination. But wasn't that how everything started? Through Carter's overactive imagination?  
"All right, if you're sure..."  
"Positive," Carter assured her. Mark glanced at his watch.  
"I'm on in five. I should go. See you guys later!" he stood up and left.  
"I should really be on my way, too," Elizabeth said, standing up.  
"Good bye!" Abby called as Elizabeth stepped out the door.  
**Good bye, Dr. Carter...**  
He heard it again.  
"That's not right..." he whispered.  
"What's not right?" Abby asked.  
"I haven't thought about her for days..."  
"John?"  
**When Valentine's arrives. I am waiting, John.**  
"John Carter, are you alright?" Abby demanded. Carter was pulled out of his trance and looked at Abby.  
"Huh?" he asked. Abby sighed with relief.  
"For a minute, I thought Lucy had you again," Carter looked at Abby and her relief quickly left.  
"Abby..."  
"No, Carter, that's impossible!" Abby shook her head, afraid of what Carter was saying.  
"I think Lucy's back," Carter said.  
"How... How do you know?"  
"I can hear her... I can feel her," Carter sounded a little scared.  
"This isn't good. We should talk to Dr. Albright," Abby told him.  
"No..." Carter looked thoughtful, "She said she was waiting... For Valentine's Day."  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"I don't know," Carter answered, truthfully.  
"I still think we should talk to Dr. Albright," Abby said, stubbornly.  
"No, he won't be able to help me. All I have to do is fight, like I did before."  
"I think you should take the next few days off," Abby suggested, "You know, so in case she tries to take over again, it won't happen while you're treating a patient."  
"Everything will be fine, Abby. I'm sure it was just my imagination. I should go now, I'm on in a few minutes."  
"All right," Abby agreed, "I have to go soon, too. I'll come with you. What are your hours on the fourteenth?"  
"Noon to midnight," Carter answered. Abby looked at him.  
"I don't think-"  
"Abby," Carter's voice was pleading, "Trust me."  
"How am I supposed to know it's you I'm trusting and not her?" Abby asked. Carter was silent. Because he didn't know how to answer it.  
  
The day past swiftly and six o'clock came swiftly. Abby ran up to Carter as he was putting on his coat.  
"So, what do you want to do?"  
"Dinner?"  
"A movie?"  
"Coffee after?"  
"Perfect!" Abby grinned and she and Carter left hand in hand to look for a good restaurant.  
  
Dinner was pleasant and the movie was interesting. They never did get to have coffee, though, because after the movie, Carter realized how late it was.  
"My shift starts at six tomorrow," he explained, "And it's 12 already."  
"And you do need some sleep," Abby understood, "OK," So Carter and Abby parted for the evening. That night, though, Carter couldn't sleep. So he turned on the television.  
"Football at midnight?" Carter asked, before noticing it wasn't live and shrugged it off.  
"And the Knights are dying on the field tonight, Jim-" click. Channel change.  
"I love Lucy!" click. Carter hated Nick at Nite anyway.  
"Last week on Chicago Hope: 'Will Lucinda be all right, doctor Carson?' 'I'm sorry, Ms. King. I tried my hardest but Lucinda's stab wounds are too much-" click. Why were they showing soap operas this late?  
"Today, a young girl and her supervisor were both stabbed to death in their own office-" click. The news always got Carter down.  
"It slices, it dices, it-" click. Carter turned off the television.  
"Is it just me, or does everything I see remind me of Lucy?" he asked himself. All week he hadn't thought about her, why now? Of course Carter knew the answer to that. So he fell back on his bed and fell into a restless sleep.  
  
No voices, just exam six. He would know it any day. He felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around.  
"Lucy?" he asked, backing away.  
"Yeah," Lucy smiled, "But I'm the real Lucy."  
"Huh?" Carter stopped and looked Lucy up and down. Her hair was pulled back in a half ponytail and she was wearing her white lab coat over black pants. She was Lucy.  
"Your manifestation of me, though I would barely say it is anything like me, is still there, Dr. Carter. You didn't kill it. It was right, the war isn't over until either you find a way to destroy her, or she finds a way to destroy you."  
"I thought she was gone!" Carter protested.  
"She's not, gone, John. Just regressed. You pushed her back to the depths of your mind. And now, she's fighting back. Beware of Valentine's Day, Carter, because I think that's when she'll make her move."  
"Thank you, Lucy," Carter smiled.  
"You're welcome, and good luck with Abby," Lucy turned to leave.  
"Lucy?" Carter called after her.  
"Hm?" Lucy spun around.  
"After all I did to you... thanks for watching over me," Lucy nearly melted at Carter's comment as Carter stared at his feet. She walked briskly over to him and pulled him into a big hug.  
"Listen, John. You didn't do anything to me. Blame will get you no where. Sobriki was the one with the knife and even if he did stab me, I forgive him."  
"Because you have a kind heart, Lucy," Carter sighed. Lucy smiled up at him.  
"Now I really have to go. There's a patient of Elizabeth's I have to see, Julie Manson. Good bye, John."  
"Bye, Lucy."  



	2. A Reporter's Big Scoop

"Hey, John!" Abby came running up to him.  
"Abby? What are you doing here?" Carter asked.  
"I decided to come to work early. You know, the most amazing thing happened with Dr. Corday a few hours ago!"  
"Really? Explain," Carter said, throwing on his lab coat.  
"Well, there was this girl, right? And we all knew she was too badly injured and-"  
"How did she get injured?" Carter asked, scanning the board.  
"A car accident, but that's not important! So her heart rate flattened and we all knew there was nothing anyone could do. But Elizabeth! What a brave and persistent human being! She took up those paddles and ordered me to charge them. I tried to tell her there was nothing we could do, but she told me to try anyway. So I charged the paddles and Corday shocked the patient. Once, twice, three times. Just as she was about to give up and call it, a miracle happened! The girl's heart started up again!"  
"That happens sometimes..." Carter said, taking a chart and looking it over.  
"No, Carter, you don't understand. This girl was really bad off! And do you know what she was saying when she woke up?"  
"What?" asked Carter, knowing Abby would tell him anyway.  
"She said two angels brought her back. She claimed one was Corday. Never said who the other was..." Abby trailed off thinking. She laughed, "Now, every time Julie sees Corday, she says she's her angel!" Abby got Carter's full attention now as his head snapped up from the chart.  
"What was her name?" he asked her.  
"Julie," Abby answered, "Why?"  
"What was her last name?"  
"Julie... Manson, yeah," Abby said, remembering the girl's name. Carter was reminded of the dream he had had a few hours before, "John, is something wrong?"  
"No, actually, for once I think something is going right," Carter smiled at Abby and scooped her up in his arms.  
"Wow, well, whatever just happened, it must me something good!" Abby giggled, happily surprised by his sudden need to hug her. He gave her a warm kiss and smiled.  
"It must be," he said, "It must be."  
  
When Carter's shift ended, around eight o'clock, he went down to Doc Magoo's to get a drink of coffee. While there, he found Dave Malucci, entertaining one of his new girlfriends.  
"So the girl stops the elevator, completely unaware that her boyfriend is claustrophobic and- Hey, Carter! What's up, man?" Dave asked as Carter walked in. The woman he was with, a blond, turned her head to see who Dave was speaking to.  
"Hey, Dave," Carter gave a forced smile, "Fancy seeing you here when I could have sworn Weaver told you to see to that little boy with the broken leg not fifteen minutes ago. Surely that couldn't have taken fifteen minutes!"  
"Oh, it's OK," Dave said, taking a sip of his coffee, "I told Abby she could take it."  
"Abby?"  
"Davie, who is this?" the blond asked, before Dave could say anything.  
"Oh, I'm sorry! Carter, this is Brenda. Brenda, this is Dr. John Carter."  
"Hi!" she was perky. Too perky for Carter's liking, and by the way she spoke to Dave, Carter knew she must have been the blond in all of those dumb blond jokes.  
"Hello. Dave... Abby?"  
"Well... She had nothing to do!" Dave protested. Carter rolled his eyes, shook his head, and walked to an empty table.  
"So anyway, the guy's claustrophobic, right? So when the elevator stopped, he was hysterical and the girlfriend had no idea why! So she just..." Dave's story went on, but Carter became engrossed in a newspaper article at the mention of a familiar name.  
  
Paul Sobriki, a patient at Chester Mental Care Center in Illinois surprisingly escaped the other night. Two years ago, on Valentine's Day, Sobriki showed up at Cook County General Hospital in Chicago complaining of a headache. The doctor and medical student who treated him and found nothing wrong with him were later stabbed by their own patient. According to Dr. Dave Malucci, the medical student, Lucy Knight, suspected Sobriki to be mentally ill but Dr. John Carter, stabbed alongside Knight, dismissed the concerns of his med. student.  
Sobriki ran out of the hospital naked, only later to be hit by a car and brought back in. The police arrested him for murder of the first degree (Knight died of her wounds) without knowing of his mental instability. When later proven his insanity, Sobriki was taken off to Chester in order to recover. But now, a day before Valentine's Day, he has somehow found a way out.  
Sobriki's nurse, a Miss Calendar, said that last night, Sobriki kept muttering something about people trying to hurt him and steal his internal organs. This was the first time he had mentioned this for a while, and Miss Calendar was concerned. She asked him if he had taken his pills, which he replied that he had and left him. The next morning, Sobriki was nowhere to be found.  
Dr. Weaver, a doctor who worked on Knight, was unavailable for comment on the subject, but Dr. Malucci was delighted to give us an interview. When asked if he considered Sobriki a threat to the community, he replied simply, "Only to those in Chester. I doubt he would make it back to Chicago without being caught." For Carter's sake, we hope he is correct. But in the meantime for the citizens of Chester, be on the lookout for the escaped schizophrenic.  
  
Carter stared at the article and growled in anger and frustration. He stood up and stomped over to Dave's table, interrupting his undoubtedly interesting conversation with his more than dense companion.  
"Malucci!" Carter shouted.  
"What? What'd I do now?" Dave asked, guiltily.  
"What is this?" Carter demanded, referring to the paper grasped tightly in Carter's hand.  
"Murderer escapes from Chester Mental Care Center..." Dave read. Then, realizing what was happening, took on an expression of fear, "Uh oh."  
"What the hell did you tell them?" Carter screamed so loud that it made people stare.  
"Um..."  
"Hey, are you Dr. Carter?" one staring man asked, a paper in his left hand. Carter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Brenda, being the dumb blond that she was, answered for him.  
"Yeah! And my boyfriend here is Dave Malucci! And I'm Brenda!" she said, cheerily. Dave hit his head on the table.  
"Nice going, Brenda," he muttered, "Now Carter's gonna be mad at me for a month!"   
"Is this true?" the man asked, pointing at the paper.  
"No, thank you, goodnight!" Carter said, quickly and turned to the door. When he was in the doorframe, he turned around and said:  
"And Lucy wasn't this big hero, you know! Whatever Malucci said it was just to get attention! Do you know how long it took for me to get over her goddamned death? More time than it would take Brenda over there to read a Magic School Bus picture book and that's saying something! So next time you see a reporter, tell them to stay the Hell out of my personal life!" and he slammed the door behind him.  



	3. She's Alive Again

Out in the cold night air, Carter began to shiver slightly, but not only from the cold. Was what he read true? Had Sobriki really escaped? He looked at his watch. It was eight thirty. He decided to go see Abby.  
"John!" Abby was happy to see him and gave him a big hug.   
Carter kissed her then asked, "Abby, did you read the newspaper today?"  
"No, I haven't had the chance to yet, why?"  
"Don't," Carter suggested. Abby looked puzzled.  
"Why not?" she asked.  
"Just don't."  
"OK... I'm on until midnight, but we can get that coffee tomorrow morning, around 9:30 if you want," Abby smiled, knowing Carter was off until ten and so was she.  
"All right!" Carter laughed, "That sounds great!" he gave her one last kiss, said goodbye and left.  
"Hey!" Abby called after him, "That's it?"  
"What's it?"  
"You come here for two minutes and leave?"  
"I just had to see you before the day ends," Carter explained. Abby smiled as he made his exit.  
  
He slept dreamlessly that night, but when he woke up the next morning he could sense something was wrong. He looked at his watch.  
"Ah shit!" he swore. It was 9:45 and he was on at ten and had promised Abby coffee. On top of that, there was a traffic jam and he didn't get to work until 10:30. As he ran in, he bumped into Jing-Mei Chen.  
"Deb, have you seen Abby?" he asked her.  
"Um... I think she was looking at a patient... exam three..." Carter stiffened at her words. Something was wrong and Carter could feel it. He ran past Jing-Mei and down to exam room three. The door was closed and the lights were out. He looked around. Everything seemed as it should be. He looked at the floor, he didn't know why, and it was plain and clean. Slowly, he opened the door.  
"Abby?" he whispered as he turned on the lights. Suddenly, there was a sudden movement that surprised Carter.  
"Carter! You scared me!" Abby smiled at him, turning to him. Carter hadn't seen her, sitting in a chair by the bed. Carter took a deep breath and smiled. He didn't know why he had been so nervous.  
"Why were the lights out?"  
"She fell asleep," Abby explained, gesturing to the teenage girl in the bed.  
"Listen, I'm sorry about today, maybe we could go get coffee another time? I over slept and... well, sorry."  
"Oh, don't worry about it!" Abby told him, "Come on, I could use some company. There's not much else to do. It's pretty slow today," Carter nodded and pulled up a chair.  
"So, how long have you been here?"  
"With this patient? About half an hour. If she wakes up and no one's here, she goes psycho. She said she wanted me to wait with her."  
"How about I get you some coffee?" Carter offered, "We could finally have our coffee date, even if it is in a dark exam room."  
Abby smiled, "I'd like that."  
"Good," Carter stood up, exited, and closed the door behind him. As Abby watched, the figure in the bed stirred and sat up right. She tilted her head to the side, as if trying to figure Abby out, and her blond hair tumbled over her face. Abby turned to her.  
"Ah, you're awake!" she said. The girl grinned viciously. Abby looked at her, puzzled. The girl threw her head back and laughed an evil laugh. Abby was beginning to become scared. The laugh was long and when she finished, she just grinned at Abby again, strands of hair shadowing her eyes. Abby stood up and began to back away towards the door. As she tried to open it, it was locked.  
"How can it be locked?"  
"Hello, Abby," the girl whispered through her hideous grin.  
"Louise, calm down now-"  
"Oh, but I'm not Louise," the girl cackled, "Don't you recognize me?" the girl pulled back her hair, put on a kind smile and stood up, "Yes, Dr. Carter, whatever you say, Dr. Carter. Of course, Dr. Carter, let me just check on Mr. Sobriki first. He could really hurt someone. What's that? You don't think he's dangerous? I guess you were wrong, weren't you, Dr. Carter?" she threw her head back and laughed again.  
"This is impossible!" Abby declared.  
"Is it?" the woman smiled, "I'm finally free! I have my own body again and how good it feels!"  
"How did you get free?" Abby asked, "That's not possible."  
"Carter suppressed me to the depths of his unconscious. He forgot me. He thought that would be the best way to get rid of me. But whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? I escaped from his head and now, I am myself again."  
"And who exactly is that?" Abby asked.  
"Lucy Knight, of course!" she answered.  
"No. From what I heard of Lucy Knight, you are nothing like her!"  
"And never will be! Abby, haven't you learned by now? Carter made me! I am his guilt and pain. Guilt and pain so powerful, even Carter himself couldn't hide me for long. I escaped and now I'm as real as you or him. I have to put Carter out of his misery. It's what I do!"  
"What happens after that? Where will you go?" Abby demanded.  
"Away. Away from this crazy hospital. You can't protect him any more, Abby, now that I am alive again," Lucy snapped her fingers. The door unlocked and opened. In walked someone in a thick jacket and long pants. His face was hidden. Lucy walked over to him and whispered in his ear.  
"She wants to take your organs, Paul. You know it, I know it, she knows it. You have to stop her Paul. Don't you want to protect them?"  
"I have to protect them," Paul stuttered, advancing on Abby with a sharp knife, "I won't let you take them!" Abby's eyes widened with terror. What was to become of her? 


End file.
